The Business Elevation Show With Chris Cooper - Be More. Achieve More

It is a fact that many businesses fail and the consequences can include an extraordinary amount of pressure for those involved. So what must we be aware of to avoid it happening to us? And what are the keys to turning your business around when it is struggling? My guest Patrick Rettig has, for over 25 years, successfully saved companies from bankruptcy. He is a man with a very direct, honest and pragmatic approach and a talent for identifying operational problems, structuring, implementing solutions and restructuring staff. Patrick is also a fascinating guy residing in the high desert outside of Los Angeles with interests including motocross, writing music and screenplays. I loved planning this show with Patrick and realized I had met someone with a great perspective to share not only on business turnaround but also on how to turn around and lead a great life. A show not to be missed!

I recently interviewed my guest and client Laura Ellis on her very first Voice America radio show Because There's More” and realised that she was on to something. A short notice postponement occurred and I jumped at the chance for her share her message with you! When you fully appreciate the consequences of decision making and the best methodologies you realize that you really do require council from others to help them to make the best decisions. Laura is the Founder and CEO of The Advisory Board (TAB) and during this show will share her perspective on decision making. With a background in cognitive and industrial psychology, Laura will share what decision making really is and how her passion for business and decision making came together to form what she considers to be a ground breaking approach to building better businesses and developing stronger leaders. Join us for another fascinating show that will help you to make better decisions and experience better business.

Ever wondered why some entrepreneurs become leading experts in their field with all the fame, fortune and opportunity that goes with it -- while others struggle to get by? Why some CEOs and business-people get book deals, and speaking tours, and spokesperson contracts -- while others wait – perhaps years – just to get recognized? My guest Janet Switzer is the business strategist and marketing maven behind many of the biggest named published entrepreneurs. The strategist of choice for Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen’s Chicken Soup for the Soul media empire since the original book published in 1993. And Jack’s go-to marketer for 22 years — helping him sell millions of dollars’ of speeches, training programs, coaching, live events and more. Janet speaks globally on how experts and CEOs can become a media She is the bestselling coauthor of The Success Principles , now in 30 languages. And her book Instant Income: Strategies That Bring In the Cash went to #1 within 48 hours.

How well do you speak under pressure? What if it was easier - What if you knew the secrets of the World Champion Speakers? On August 25th, out of 25,000 contestants from 14 countries, Darren LaCroix was crowned the 2001 World Champion of Public speaking. As a result of winning Darren has presented to Toast-masters in Malaysia, Taiwan, and Oman, and has left his day job of 11 years to pursue keynote speaking and coaching full time. On this content-rich show, Darren shares his tips & techniques so you will walk away with specific strategies that you can use in your very next speech!

With advances in neuroscience, technology, globalization and shifts in attitudes the way we sell must move with the times. During this show we will look at how you need to adapt your traditional selling approach, how to get your non sales teams to also sell for you and look at key areas to improve your on-line sales presence. My guest, Frank Furness CSP is an international Sales & Technology Speaker and Social Media Presenter and has worked in 53 countries. Not only has he been inducted into the ‘Speaker Hall of Fame’, he has guested on many radio and TV shows and his You Tube channel is watched by millions. He has an Internet Marketing business with 72 websites marketing various products. ‘Walking with Tigers – Success Secrets of the World’s Top Business Leaders’ and ‘How to Find New Business and Clients’ are also International best sellers. The first show I did with Frank remains one of my favourites this will be another show not to miss!

What are the 10 key behaviours that top Leaders in best in class organisations demonstrate? We have talked about leadership on this show many times but I am not sure we have had anyone who has talked to more leaders from the highest performing companies in the world than my guest Adrian Simpson. Adrian has been running study tours and events for almost two decades – featuring some of the world’s most admired and successful companies and leaders including Apple, Google, IKEA, LEGO, NASA and Ritz-Carlton Hotels. Speakers at events he has organised have included: Al Gore, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Oliver, Bob Geldof and Professor Muhammad Yunus. Drawing on unparalleled access to the boardrooms and shop floors of iconic businesses, Adrian shares with huge passion, insight and humour about what it takes to be a high performing leader. If you want to check you are, aspire to be or wish to learn more about the behaviours of top leaders then this show will provide the insight.

How empowered are you and your people? During this show we are going to explore empowerment and some of the key elements that can make a difference between success and failure in business and in life. My guest this week is Rob Holcroft, a leadership development coach, author and a qualified teacher with an MA (Education) in Professional Learning specialising in Mentoring and Coaching. He has six books under his belt, including the ac-claimed story of I Can't, and another on the way. Rob even has an award named after him in Sri Lanka, has worked on a show in Hollywood, is a trained falconer, advanced stage fighter and his 17th great grandfather was King Henry VII! Listen in to discover how you can overcome some of your biggest hurdles, with a fascinating guest who will help us to keep optimistic and empowered!

Do you want to embody the principles of success and see extraordinary results as a consequence? If so this show is essential listening. My guests include the legendary Jack Canfield the beloved originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul®series, who is also affectionately known as America's #1 Success Coach. Also, business pioneer Amanda Brown who has applied the lessons she acquired studying with Jack to create The Leading Ladies Company and TV show. This show is a pleasure for me as the Chicken Soup for the Soul®series was a catalyst in transforming me from a corporate being into a more personally in touch business owner! Following the launch of the 10th Anniversary Edition of The Success Principles this will be a great show to hear some powerful stories and ideas for increasing your own success in business and life from those who really know how!

Pinpointing your target market can be a challenge, let alone learning how to master it! I personally invited my guest Paul Charity to join me on this show as I am an impressed recipient of his work. I first found out about Paul when a highly respected industry professional forwarded his newsletter and said 'this is the newsletter you should read'. Paul has not only created the must read newsletter for his sector, he also developed a range of services from sold out Masterclasses and conferences to international innovation trips. Paul has had a varied career, combining journalism with direct experience of founding a multi-site pub company. He was editor of a weekly newspaper in Lincolnshire at the age of 28. In his early 30s he co-founded the Bulldog Hotel Group. Most re-cently, he edited the Publican’s Morning Advertiser, spending ten years on the magazine during which time it became market leader. Join us to discover how to become the must read, go-to expert in your marketplace.

Have you ever convinced yourself that your opportunities are limited when in reality anything is possible! My guest on this show Roger Masterson once believed he was ‘stupid’, How wrong could he be? Today he is a highly successful en-trepreneur and the founder of Celtic Castles, the award winning online castle-booking company, based in the heart of Yorkshire in England. Nobody in the world knows more about staying in castles than Roger! Roger helps business own-ers to think differently and is at his best as a disruptive thinker, believing you learn more from things going wrong. Today he is best known as 'The Castle Man'. Listen into this week’s show to discover some very valuable lessons that could help you to become the admired leader of your own business empire!

Would you like to improve the results from your sales Presentations? In this show, I am delighted to welcome Patricia Fripp CSP,CPAE to help us learn the mistakes made in sales presentations and how to avoid them. Also how to improve your conversational presentation outline, the quality of your questions, the power of your client examples and how razor sharp specificity gives you a competitive edge when delivering Sales Presentations. Patricia is an award-winning keynote speaker, sales presentation skills authority, and executive speech coach. Meetings & Conventions magazine named her One of the 10 most electrifying speakers in North America. She was the first female President of the National Speakers Association. Patricia is now virtually everywhere with FrippVT her highly interactive, state-of-the-art virtual training in Powerful Persuasive Presentations. Her brother is Robert Fripp the internationally acclaimed guitarist. Join us for what will be a very special show.

Do you really understand how to make diversity an advantage in your workplace? As my guest Lenora Billings-Harris says 'a diverse workforce can assist organizations in their efforts to penetrate emerging markets, attract and retain the best talent, improve customer relations, and reduce employee complaints and grievances. All of these challenges and opportunities have strong bottom-line implications'. Lenora was named as one of the twenty top influential diversity leaders in the US. Lenora co-authored TRAILBLAZERS: How Top Business Leaders are Accelerating Results through Inclusion and Diversity and is author of The Diversity Advantage. She is also a frequent expert guest on TV and radio globally. Lenora is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), past president of the National Speakers Association, and was the 2014 president of the Global Speakers Federation. Join us to explore diversity and how to fully value, leverage and engage with it from an exceptional diversity expert.

Business can be a serious matter, but it shouldn’t be dull! To be successful and to inspire others you need to engage well and discover your inner spark! Jeremy Nicholas is an award winning TV and radio presenter who’s been broadcasting since 1986. He now works as a keynote speaker, compere and speaker coach. Having seen Jeremy in action, I can ensure you he is good! He talks about media matters, attracting free publicity and put-ting humour into your business presentations. He’s the director of Talking Toolbox, which teaches speaking skills for TV, radio and live audiences. A well known voice on the after dinner circuit, Jeremy is an accomplished host of business events working for clients such as IBM, Carling, Ericsson, Microsoft, Cognizant and Samsung. For 16 years he was also the match day announcer for West Ham United Football Club and he is the announcer on EA Sports FIFA games. Join us to to discover how to increase the entertainment and engagement in your communications.

Engaging people to buy into and deliver change can be one of the most challenging tasks you face, yet it is a role that is crucial to the success of your business. Jonathan Wygant is the CEO and founder of BigSpeak, Inc. one of the largest business-oriented speakers bureaus in North America focused on serving the Fortune 1000 and multinational companies worldwide. Drawing upon 30+ years of hands-on business experience Jona-than has not only engaged and delivered significant change but has also acquired an almost unparalleled per-sonal network of thought leaders to derive examples and lessons from. Listen in to discover how best to deal with people such that they actively and positively help you to deliver the change you need.

Would you like to get even better at communicating over the telephone? Anthony Stears, AKA ‘The Telephone Assassin’ is on a mission to get businesses talking again and to stop people from hiding behind their emails and social media! On this week’s show, Anthony will help us to learn the importance of telephone etiquette, how to perfect our telephone pitch, the 3 groups of people you should be targeting as well as why a structure is better than a script. All of these enabling you to take control of your conversations and to give you the ability to make each call count. If you are one of the many people who are daunted by picking up the phone to a potential customer, calling someone to deliver bad news, or addressing an awkward situation/customer, this show is an absolute must!

So how do you create awesome performance when your budgets are being severely cut? During this show I will be talking to a true innovator in the Public Sector who will demonstrate how it is possible to inspire awesome performance in your organization even within a back drop of funding cuts. Leatham is Assistant Director for Human Resources for East Sussex County Council delivering services to over 15,000 employees. As we will discover, he became a world champion ball room dancer at the age of 8! Some of this innovation and tenacity he has brought to helping create an awesome and contemporary culture in a budget challenged workplace. Join us for some great ideas and inspiration for making a difference to your workplace environment even when funds are tight

We've always heard Work hard, watch your numbers & you’ll be a successful manager”. But is that actually the way to get to the top? Expert David Long says that if you follow that advice you’ll get fired! David Long is Founder/CEO of MyEmployees, a 25 year-old firm in the Top 1% Worldwide in the Employee Engagement and Recognition industry. His firm specialises in helping managers build stronger, more engaging relationships with their team members, while linking the rewards and recognition program to the desired goals of the company. During this radio show we will discuss David’s 7 Management R.E.W.A.R.D.S. Principles tackling, head-on, the lies you've been told about how to reach the top in your career and what REALLY WORKS! These are concrete, foundational principles that will change your life, not only in your business career... but in your personal life as well!

Did you know that charismatic people are more successful, happier and healthier? Have you ever wondered what it is and how you can develop your own charisma? Whatever your views prepare to hear a rather controversial perspective from Nikki Owen, Charisma Expert who adopts an ‘alternative’ perspective to enhancing authentic charisma. Harvard Business Review and University of Lausanne research shows that charisma boosts leadership performance by 60%. Charisma is seen as an intangible concept that often attracts a negative reaction in the world of business. There is a stereotypical image that a charismatic individual is a confident extrovert with a big personality. Even if charisma can be taught (and many research papers indicate that it can’t) the question is; how important is charisma for leaders, entrepreneurs, emerging talent and high potentials? Join us on this show to find out the difference Charisma your natural charisma.

Are you wishing to advance your career? Or help others advance? Perhaps you have children or family members who could benefit from some words of wisdom? During this show I will be discussing career success with my guest Hilary Wilson who is an international keynote speaker, trainer and mentor. She also founded Wilson Associates Limited, the UK based development consultancy in 1989. During this time Hilary has worked with over 65 FTSE 100 companies, designed and delivered some 3750 bespoke career development programmes and facilitated over 5850 hours of coaching. Over the last 22 years, through observation, interaction and research of 55,000 executives across a vast range of organisations both in the UK and internationally, Hilary has identified the top critical success factors. She uses this to create workforces who really know how to manage their careers. If you want to help yourself or the career of others then join us for some provoking ideas, proven to improve career success.

We all know it’s imperative for our business to keep employees motivated and inspired. Without it, our business faces diminishing morale and productivity. Shawn Casemore has spent nearly two decades in leadership roles in Operations, Business Improvement & Supply Chain Management with a variety of organizations. He now runs his own company helping business owners and executives to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their business. If you own a business, or are in charge of a team, this show is a must for you as Shawn helps us understand how to engage and empower our employees to improve their productivity and maximize the performance of our business.